This article looks at concluding your case interview well. It is the last part of the three part series. I truly hope these articles help you succeed in case interviews and win the job you truly hope for. Before you read this article, you might want to read Part 1 and Part 2.
Compare and Contrast
Now let’s go ahead and compare the two conclusions that I gave in part 2: one of them was just okay and the other one was a strong conclusion. As we go through and do this compare and contrast exercise keep in mind the four tips for giving a strong conclusion.
1. Structure
Your conclusion should have a clear structure. While the okay conclusion and strong conclusion both have some similarities, for example they both start out by restating the key client question, which is great, and they both do a good job at laying out the arguments, there are two key differences:
- The first one is that the strong conclusion states the recommendation upfront. Right after the restatement of the client question, the conclusion reads “here is my recommendation…” What this does is it primes the interviewers. They understand the frame of mind and the reference for the rest of the conclusion. The other great thing that the strong conclusion does is that immediately after stating the recommendation it says “here are the three key reasons I’m recommending that…” This also does a really good job of priming the interviewers so they understand how to follow along for the rest of the conclusion. Throughout the remainder of the strong conclusion, there are signposts “first second third” for each supporting reason. It really hammers home the point.
- Secondly, just as an extra tidbit, one of the things that the strong conclusion does very nicely is it adds in that caveat right at the end before finally going ahead and restating the recommendation. A very strong structure to that conclusion.
2. Data supported arguments
The second item to include in your conclusion is data supported arguments. Once again, there are some similarities between the okay conclusion and the strong conclusion. The okay conclusion points out the market size, which is good as it’s one of the key data points that comes up. But as you read the strong conclusion, you realize that there are other data points that the candidate learned throughout the case, which are key points that are not brought up in the okay conclusion. For example, things like the percent market share that the client has been able to achieve in other markets when competing against the same competitors. That’s a really good reference data point. You also learn about the $25M revenue target for this initiative, which you don’t learn about in the okay conclusion. Again, another good data point that’s relevant and should be included and helps strengthen the argument. So the key difference here is that the strong conclusion always folds data points in and highlights them.
3. Next-level insights
Your conclusion should also incorporate next-level insights. This for me is really where the strong conclusion starts to just pull away in great leaps and bounds from the okay conclusion.
In each of the supporting arguments there’s the implication for each of the points made which helps to answer the question “so what?”. For example, in the first data point about the market size the strong conclusion smartly brings up that the market is big and it’s growing at a decent clip. Also, given the client’s revenue target for this project in three years, they need to achieve 6% market share, which seems doable given the other information we learn as we proceed further.
In the third argument, the strong conclusion points out that the client has achieved market share of between 13-19% in other markets against the same competitors. That’s very crucial evidence that backs up the claim that 6% market share seems achievable. These data points really start to hammer home the implications. So the strong conclusion is not just limited to “hey the market is big and it competed successfully against other competitors in similar markets” but really ties the argument down with the data and answers the question “so what?”.
4. Caveats and next steps
Finally, your conclusion should mention caveats and next steps. The okay conclusion does not even touch on the fact that there was a study that came up in the U.S. about the efficacy of dental floss. Now obviously if this becomes a big deal then it could have a significant impact on the sales of floss in the U.S. and other markets. So the strong conclusion does a very nice job at the end of saying “look we do know that the study came up. Unless the impact is drastic, which I doubt it is, since it just came out and usually the research takes years sometimes even decades to sort itself as you know studies and counter studies come in…”. The strong conclusion does a good job of acknowledging it saying I don’t think it’s a fear but it’s worth doing the next step analysis if we had more time just to do our due diligence on that.
Since this caveat is not acknowledged in the okay conclusion, it leaves the interviewer in a position of wondering whether the candidate forgot about it entirely or whether they made a business judgment that I’m not aware of in the background that it’s likely not a big deal. Since the interviewer doesn’t know, it’s not clear that you’re going to get the benefit of the doubt. So for that reason, the strong conclusion does a really nice job of calling out the caveat and next steps that the team could take to address it and put that issue to bed.
Conclusion
Now that we’ve gone through and done the compare and contrast exercise it is worth reflecting on the fact that the okay and the strong conclusion really had a lot of similarities. They both start by restating the key client question. They both end by stating the recommendation. In the middle the three arguments they make are actually the same. But as we saw in the compare and contrast, those four tips really set the strong conclusion apart from the okay conclusion.
So as you are getting ready for your case interviews do not forget to think about the conclusion and how you’re going to approach that and really remember to keep these four tips in mind.
- Structure – Always think about the structure and make the conclusion as clearly structured as possible so it’s easy for the interviewer to follow along.
- Data supported arguments – Always use data supported arguments when you have a key piece of relevant data for one of those arguments.
- Next level implications – Try to get to the next level implications of any argument by answering the question “so what?”
- Caveats and next steps – If there are any caveats definitely acknowledge them and then suggest next steps that could be taken to ameliorate any of those concerns.
Jason Oh is a management consulting professional at Novantas, specialized in financial services strategy consulting. He holds experience helping Fortune 500 financial institutions with commercial due diligence, go-to-market strategy, and distribution channel strategy. He’s also an avid traveller with passion for FinTech, marathon, and blogging.
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